UKSaabs

Anyone in the know about these little thingys?

Ive always done mountain bikes with normal pedals, but will be getting my first road bike soon, and not sure what to do pedal wise.

At the moment Im thinking of Look Keo Easy pedals, and possibly cleats with 9* float. Ill probably be getting Shimano shoes due to price, and Ive heard Shimano tend to be a bit on the small size, so go one size up.

Any help or personal experiences would be very useful.

Thankyou

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GM900T Stage2
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If your'e new to clipless pedals I wouldn't go for Looks unless you intend racing as you can't walk in them.

Stick with Shimano spd's (double sided mountain bike ones are fine).

You really need to go to a shop and try the shoes on if you are buying Shimano as the do come up very small (and narrow) - I had a pair years ago and needed 2 sizes larger than I would normally take.

I know the two pairs of Sidi shoes I have are each a size bigger than normal and they can be tight when I've got winter weight socks on.

I use Look Keo carbon on the road bike, and SPD on the hybrid and mountain bike. Much easier to engage with the SPD, but part of that is the mountain bike shoes as opposed to road shoes.

I'm not familiar with Shimano road shoes, so would be worth finding out about mounting Look cleats on them before you buy.

If the shoes will take SPD SL cleats they will take Look ones.

I use shimano SPD pedals on both my MTB and road bike and cant fault them, you are also able to walk in them as they are recessed in to the tread unlike SPD SL's and look cleats.

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2001 Audi allroad 2.7 Bi-Turbo.

Look Keo platform is larger than SPD and some people find this prevents 'hot spots', but I reckon that it is more down to the shoe design. My Sidi mountain bike shoes have more flex in the soles than the carbon road ones, but this has never been a problem even on longer runs.

I started clipless with the Look system and found it no problem at all, but SPD is easier to use.

Make sure if you get Look Keo's that you have the rubber cover that fits over the cleats for when you are off the bike. Makes walking a bit easier and reduces damage to the very easily worn out cleat.

As Dean said, no issue walking with SPD as the cleat is recessed in to the sole, or in the case of the Sidi montain bike shoes, it is withing the tread.

I use crank brothers egg beaters. Find them much better than mtb spds as they have 4 points of entry unlike the normal 1 or 2. Feet have never "slipped" out and have always got in and out easily. Also have quite a bit of float to save your knees.

Downside is you have no chance of using normal shoes with them...

i have eggbeaters also they are much easier to get used to so are a good bet in my opinion they look like whisk hence eggbeaters

Mine has rat-traps and I wear trainers....

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Theory is when you know everything and nothing works
Practice is where everything works but you don't know why.
In my world nothing works and I don't know why...

even if you choose not to get clip in cleat type pedals its definately worth getting a pair of proper cycling shoes that have a stiff sole or you foot goes knumb if you ride long enough or hard enough
i dont like clip in cleats genarally but the eggbeaters are alot safer as theyre aesier to bail out of and alot easier to clip into as they have four sides so you dont have to flip them with the top of you foot them get into them you just shove your foot ontop then they clip in much easier
if you get cleats have them set quite loose to start with so you can get out of them easy
or right at the worse time your stuck into your pedals and end up on your face with abike ontop of you ask me how i know that broken collarbone to prove its dangerous ouch
the worse thing with clipins is that you cant get your legout and use like acounter weight if you have to do an emergency swerve
like they do on the superbikes and motorcross eg leg out counterweigh balance and dont go on your face

I use the crank bros egg beater and the candy (they have a bit of a platform edge to them), made the switch from normal toe clips after years, wouldn't use anything else now.
My egg beaters came with clip in bits to turn them into normal platforms so you can wear normal shoes with them.

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Have --> 2000 9-3 SE lpt (T5)
Had --> 1975 96 V4 Jubilee
Had --> 1977 96 V4 L

Do not leave your cleats loose whatever you do. That's the bit that bolts to the shoe. If they're loose all that will happen is you twist your foot to get out and the cleat will stay engaged leaving your foot stuck to the pedal. You only make that mistake once, ask my face

Some pedals have a tensioning screw on them which you can adjust and that's what's meant by leaving them loose. This makes getting in and out easier and also allows a bit more float, which is good for the knees and the initial setting up period because you will not get them right straight away.

My early shimano's when I had loose were too loose and my feet would slip out of them. You do get used to them really quickly and you'll find after a week or so riding the tension will be wound right up.

On a serious not, if you're not racing look at the mtb pedals and leisure shoes as the cleats are always recessed allowing you to walk normally and not look like a duck on ice, especially in the wet. If you do get carbon soled shoes and go for a walk round town or something let us know cos for us it would be funnier than seeing someone walk into a lamp post. Shattered my ankle in 4 places in similar situation.....

Sorry guys, what are egg-beaters?

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Theory is when you know everything and nothing works
Practice is where everything works but you don't know why.
In my world nothing works and I don't know why...

Eggbeater

Not sure if I could have found a bigger image there - sorry

I always liked my Shimano DX 647 spd's before the bike they were attached to got nicked . They have the SPD clip in part but with a decent platform to stand on, if you felt like staying unclipped for whatever reason.

Since then I've gone back to a decent set of flat's, some superstar nano's, anodized electric blue

Thanks Pug, so how do they work, presumably when you push down two blades move and engage with the cleats, but what happens when you pull up? or do you engage some other way?

_________________
Theory is when you know everything and nothing works
Practice is where everything works but you don't know why.
In my world nothing works and I don't know why...

Ah, all becomes clear - I'm liking the look of those

_________________
Theory is when you know everything and nothing works
Practice is where everything works but you don't know why.
In my world nothing works and I don't know why...

To be honest I haven't ridden my bike off road since end of 2008 after I shattered the ankle but before that I swore by them. I had used most pedals before that, including Shimano DX and XTR, Look, Time, Crankbrothers candys and would say none of them compare. For the lean freaks out there they weigh next to nothing. Now I've lost range of movement and I still have no problems using the eggbeaters on road I can still disengage quickly and easily. Just need to get my fitness back up now....

To disengage from the eggbeaters you twist your foot sideways. The cleats are asymmetric and that is how you set the release angle. However, you can't adjust the tension of the release.

I generally use caged spds and currently have the 647 DX pedals on my mountain bike. Bit bulky for a road bike though unless you really, really want the cage. You could also consider Time pedals.

Don't know how much you are going to spend on your shoes. but you might consider Gaerne, I find them nice and comfy but stiff.

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99T16 in a special kind of brown! (Still not finished it!)